THE PARIS LETTER: When the heck are things open around here?

Bear with me, because this may be a little bit of a rant. But - when are things open around here??

I've lived here for two years now, and I still don't know. Every week I seem to head out on an errand only to find the shop/market/office is closed, and I'll have to come back. The French system, even in Paris, still functions on a closed-on-Sunday/closed-for-lunch mentality that to an American feels completely alien and bizarre.

I will give you some examples of the pitfalls in my weekly shopping routine: I live next door to a big supermarket, Monoprix, which I think of as kind of a combination of Whole Foods and Target. Blessedly, they are open every day except Sunday. They don't, however, sell some things  - good bread and good cheese, for example, or olives, whole bean coffee, cilantro, whole wheat flour, peanut butter, or oatmeal - so these necessitate a trip to the nearby covered market, boulangerie, coffee roaster, and natural foods store. Additionally, I'll often throw in a trip to the butcher or fishmonger - though you can get meat and fish at Monoprix, they don't have a large selsction - and then, of course, the caviste for some interesting wine. And, as I've mentioned in a previous post, any over the counter drugs or prescriptions necessitate a trip to the Pharmacie.

Okay, so already that's a little complicated. Fortunately, all of these places are within a 15 minute walk of my house - though, tragically, not all are within the SAME 15 minute walk. The market is in one direction; the coffee shop, pharmacie, and natural foods store are in the opposite direction, the best butcher and fishmonger are in still a third direction...you get the idea. With the baby now, I do the majority of my shopping next door at Monoprix because I just do not have this kind of time.

Because its not just the endless shopping, its planning WHEN you can actually get things. The covered market, where I can get cheese, olives, cilantro and other specialty veggies, and good wine and beer, is not open on Mondays, and is closed Tuesday through Friday from 1PM to 4PM. It IS open on Sunday morning until 1PM, though generally a madhouse as the French shop for their Sunday lunch.

Every boulangerie has its own schedule of closures. Most are closed on Sunday and one other random day that must be memorized, though some are open on Sunday and then closed two other days. Of the three closest to me, one is closed Saturday and Sunday, one is open Sunday but closed Thursday, one is closed Sunday and Wednesday -you get the idea.

In addition, many stores that are open on Sunday morning are then closed all day on Monday, making Monday an unofficial third weekend day in Paris. Some of these stores ARE open Monday, but only after lunch, from 3PM-7PM, say.

And this doesn't include the various government offices that become part of your daily life in this welfare state. These function according to a complex system of national holidays that are completely different than the holidays in the US, and include Catholic holidays that Matt and I had to look up on Wikipedia  to understand: Ascension Day and Pentecost, for example. But really, these days are just like their equivalents in the US (Presidents Day and Columbus Day come to mind) - excuses for people to take a three-or-four day weekend. Often, if the holiday itself is on a Wednesday or Thursday, businesses will "faire le pont" or, literally, "make the bridge" - taking off the Thursday or Friday or both to give the workers a long weekend, where they can all go to their family country houses and snipe at their relatives. And many government offices have extremely abbreviated hours on a week with one of these holidays in it ...

Finally, the French school holiday calendar makes up for its relatively short summer break with periodic two week breaks during the school year, usually one in October and one in February/March. During these times, businesses could close down, people will be out of the office, and things will just generally slow down. Oh, and don't forget AUGUST, when everyone goes on vacation - some for the whole month, some just for two weeks - but not the same two weeks ....

Whew, okay, rant over. I have to stop now so I can get the shopping done in the twenty minutes everything will be open!

THE PARIS LETTER: How to Navigate the Pharmacie

I don't think I've written a post on la Pharmacie, which is amazing considering how much time I spend there. Our little Paris family is entering its second week of illness, a terrible cold that's been ping-ponging around the three members of our household, and thus the Pharmacie has been on my mind, and on my daily shopping route when I've been able to leave the house.

When I first moved to Paris, the Pharmacie was a very intimidating place for me. There are no American-style drugstores in France, where you can browse the aisles and the aspirin and laxatives are self-service. This means that all drugs, including aspirin, are kept behind the counter and must be requested from the pharmacist - challenging if you don't speak the language. Additionally, most of the basic medications have different names in France, and it can be very hard to navigate what you need for even the most routine symptoms. I still come home with a strange medication about once a week- at least they're relatively cheap.

I've grown to love my pharmacie, though, and now that the ladies there know me and Sophia, its a wonderful place to go - they're always very sweet to her, and give good basic medical advice. They're part of the people in my neighborhood, just like my cheese guys and my favorite butcher, and I trust them. HOWEVER, the last thing you want to do in a foreign country when you're sick is have a long conversation in another language, so I'm going to give you my tips on what I've learned:

DOLIPRANE (Dollypran) is your best bet for a basic pain reliever/fever reducer. My personal favorite is Doliprane 1000mg, or Doliprane "Mille". The pharmacist may ask if you want it "A Avaler (ah ahvahlay) or "Effervescent" - avaler means "to swallow" in French, so this is the pill form, and the other is fizzing water soluble disc, like Alka-Seltzer. You can also get Doliprane in 200mg and 500mg forms.

DOLIPRANE ENFANTS - This is children's Tylenol, and is sold as a pink liquid dispensed by a dropper - similar, I think, to how its done in the US. However, because this is Europe, the weight is in kilograms - so multiply your child's weight in pounds by 2 to get an approximation.

ASPIRIN: This is spelled ASPERINE and pronounced "aspayreen"; you will also sometimes see it as "Aspegic" pronounced "aspayjeek". And there's also often good old Advil, just like at home.

FERVEX - This is your Theraflu substitute, and I find its actually a bit milder - still works as a decongestant and puts me to sleep, but doesn't quite give you that "all the water has been drained from my body" feeling I get from Theraflu/Nyquil.

STREPSILS - These are cough/sore throat drops; they come in many flavors, and do actually have some medication in them.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES: These are big in France, and you can find a full stock of them in most pharmacies. My husband thinks homeopathy is a farce and won't let us take them, but if they work for you, they are available all over the place in France.

You can also buy the following useful things at a pharmacie: tampons, condoms, contact lens solution, pregnancy tests, baby bottles and formula, and dental floss.

Tampons: tampon periodique (not to be confused with just "Tampon" which is an ink stamp in french...)
Condoms: preservatifs (yes, this one can get embarassing if you're talking about, say, preservatives in food....not the same thing)
Contact Lens Solution: solution nettoyante pour lentilles
Pregnancy Test:  Test de Grossesse
Baby bottle:  Biberon
Formula: Lait Artificiel
Dental Floss: Fil dentaire

Additionally, a pharmacist can often refer you to a doctor, and call an ambulance if things are really serious. They are a great first stop if you're feeling bad in France, and many speak some English, at least in Paris. 

French Pharmacies also sell high end skin and hair products, which I've been gradually exploring and which can be great deals and gifts to stock up on when you're visiting the city - more on this in another post.

THE PARIS LETTER: The Experimental Cocktail Club

Boy, I have been boozing it up this month. All that free babysitting provided by my visiting mom has allowed me to continue my search for the perfect Paris martini, and this time Matt joined in the fun.

From the Time Out France review, since our cameras wouldn't work in the dark

Do you ever wish you could bring the feel of Williamsburg, Brooklyn to your Paris life? If you're visiting from the US, probably not, but Matt and I sometimes long for a Paris/New York mashup, and we've definitely found it in this cocktail bar, The Experimental Cocktail Club.

Located just north of Les Halles, in an area of narrow cobblestone streets that always makes me feel like I'm walking through medieval Paris, The Experimental Cocktail Club is appropriately discreet but thankfully has no secret entrance, just a black facade with some subtle lettering. Once you enter, its a a great combination of New York speakeasy - complete with a piano in the  corner - and Parisian charm, chandeliers and exposed beams on the walls and ceiling. Matt immediately started speculating about what had been in the space before, as he noticed a patched hole in the ceiling that had clearly once been a staircase.

We arrived at 7PM on a Saturday night, which in my mind is perfect cocktail hour. But then, I'm married and have a baby, so I'm not the most exciting person you'll meet. For us, it was great - the place was nearly empty, yet it was still late enough to feel like a romantic beginning to our date. By the time we left around 830, though, it was standing-room-only packed, so keep that in mind as you plan your trip.

The cocktail list is complicated, as expected, but - hooray! - they did make an honest-to-god, not-too-much-vermouth gin martini with olives that was really good, though served in a crystal goblet rather than a martini glass. Which I think is like a hipster choice rather than a Parisian misstep.

Since I was feeling under the weather, I got a slightly less strong drink that was similar to a whiskey sour but with Japanese whiskey, lime juice, and yuzu - very delicious, though I can't tell you the name because the Club, well, it doesn't publish its menu. I CAN tell you that you will be paying 12 Euros a cocktail - so, you know, New York prices. But trust me - go early and you won't be disappointed.


THE EXPERIMENTAL COCKTAIL CLUB
37 rue Saint Saveur
75002 Paris
01 45 08 88 89
M: Sentier, Etienne Marcel
M-Th 7PM-2AM; Friday/Saturday 7PM-5AM 

THE PARIS LETTER: Vivant Table

My mother is visiting us from California, and as she's a big time foodie, this always means we get a chance to eat at some great Paris restaurants. Normally, with the baby and the making reservations and the booking a babysitter, we just never get it together to go to the hot tables in town. But thanks to my mom, we were able to go to one of the hottest last night: Vivant Table in the 10th.

How hot was this restaurant? Well, first of all, it's one of those Paris restaurants that is only open Monday through Friday - I don't know how this is a viable business option in Paris, but many of the most interesting restos are able to close both weekend days and be just fine. Next, the only reservation we could get was  Tuesday night at 7PM. This is EXTREMELY early for a Parisian to be dining, since as I may have mentioned most weeknight dinners happen at 8:30 sharp, and weekends can go even later. It's not Spain, but still, 7PM is a time most people are either still in the office, or just picking the kids up, or maybe sitting down at a cafe for an apero - but not having a four course meal.

Next, nearly everyone else in this small bistro was busy taking expert photographs of their food, with flash. They were all food bloggers! And though I am technically blogging about food now, I was too embarrassed to whip out my iPhone and photograph my meal. Which I probably shouldn't be, but seriously, the guy behind me was making spots appear in my side vision as he tried to capture his pork chop on film.

So instead, I will try to describe what we had WITHOUT expert photos, which I know is a liability, but go with me on this.

THE PARIS LETTER: David Lynch's NightClub

So I finally did it. I went to Silencio, the Paris nightclub designed by David Lynch.

I realize I'm a little late to the party - it opened up last summer. But in my defense, I think I was 6 months pregnant when it opened. And it's definitely not a place you want to go if you're pregnant, unless you're naked and using the pregnancy as some kind of performance art.

The club is in the middle of Paris, near the Bourse, or the old Stock Exchange. You descend several flights of black metal stairs, adorned with pictures of depressed naked women and lonely suburban houses to really give it the Lynch-y feel, and finally you end up in this cabaret-slash-bomb shelter which really is kind of awesome. When I arrived - this was for a friend's going away party - there was a concert going on in one room, in which a beautiful woman with streaky eye-makeup was screaming/singing like Trent Reznor while a shirtless dude with long hair manned a Powerbook and played some beats behind her. They were apparently "friends of Bjorn", and were like an Icelandic version of a band you might see in Lynch's LOST HIGHWAY (one of my favorite films in college, no joke).
 
More tales of Lynch-y antics, including  this blog's first ever NSFW picture, after the jump

THE PARIS LETTER: The Sad Truth about Martinis in Paris

Well, while I'm on my food and drink kick this week - it must be some residual Thanksgiving-ness percolating through me - I'll go forth and discuss something you CAN'T get here, or I should say something I definitely haven't found here, and that is a good martini.

Oh Martini, where have you gone?

Oh, Martini, why are you so delicious, yet so challenging?

Really, what is weird to French people I think is that you'd want that much cold alcohol all at once. I do have some French film business friends who are constantly drinking vodka on ice at Cannes and staying up all night, but they're sort of considered wild and crazy.

Whereas this used to be my Friday night after work drink in New York City.

Here are a few things that might happen when you order a martini in Paris - all true stories by the way!

1. You ask for a martini with olives and are brought a glass of sweet vermouth with olives in it.
What? Isn't that what you asked for? It says "Martini" right on the bottle. Right next to 'Rossi". What's the problem?

2. Having learned from this experience, you ask the next bartender if he knows how to make a martini, and he says, "Sure, I've got lots of Martinis. Red martini, white martini, what would you like?" You quickly realize he means vermouth - again. Oh dear. You try to explain how to make a Martini New York-ais: Very cold gin, just a little vermouth, some olives. Oh, like James Bond! he says. Yes. like James Bond, if James Bond's bartender had to go to another part of the hotel for glassware and liquor and came back twenty minutes later with your drink. That was about 50% vermouth but to it's credit definitely had some gin in it. And the glass was big.

If you like Martini Coladas...

3. Go to LE GLASS, a  hip cocktail bar in your neighborhood that was recently written up on a cocktail blog. Find out that it serves draft beer and cocktails that come from those alcoholic-slushie machines you find in New Orleans. 

Get worried when you see that the only Martini-like drink on the menu is something called the Martinez, which includes gin, vermouth, MARASCHINO and ORANGE BITTERS, and seems to come a PRESSION which means on tap which means - a martini from one of these alcoholic slushie machines??? What is this world coming to?

But then you explain you just want a simple martini to the bartender and she seems to get it, and gives you a reasonable version, in the correct glass with olives.

But still with way too much vermouth.

Stay tuned, I'm still on the hunt. I'm headed to someplace called THE EXPERIMENTAL COCKTAIL CLUB next.

THE PARIS LETTER: Barbecue in Paris?

A few months ago I was walking around near Bastille and I saw this place:

Yes, I know the picture quality is crap. I"m working on it.

 Blues Bar-B-Q? What the heck is this doing in Paris? I have to admit, I viewed this with some trepidation. It must have been not long after my burrito-with-swiss-cheese experience here. Or maybe my worst pregnant ordering mistake, the pineapple & velveeta quesadilla I had in Helsinki.

But I digress. Yes, I was skeptical that there could be any type of edible American BarBQ in Paris. I mean, wouldn't you be? But then my friend Patrick's office turned out to be literally next door, so we decided to go for lunch.

And you know what? It is not bad at all! The restaurant is run by an American woman, Diana, who was busy fielding tons of phone calls the day we showed up as dozens of Americans in Paris tried in vain to make reservations for the restaurant's Thanksgiving dinner the next day. I guess just about every other American here forgot about the holiday just like I did!

Diana and I chatted for a bit about cuts of meat here in France, one of my favorite topics ever since  tried to cook a brisket and found the cut didn't exist here. Blues BarBQ does a Texas style barbecued beef brisket, and Diana told me she has to order it several days ahead of time, get the entire chest of the cow delivered, and then butcher it herself to get the right cut! Apparently, the French DO use the cow chest - where the brisket comes from - but cut it in the opposite direction, and use it to make plat de cote, flat steaks that don't really exist in the US. Though the French do cook some cuts of meat for a long time (think Boeuf Bourguignon, etc), they're not big on the slow & low cooking of giant hunks of cow or pork that good BBQ is based on - in fact they find it quite strange - so this restaurant must be very exotic for them.

As you can see, it thoughtfully comes with a wet-nap.

I could write about cuts of meat all day, BUT back to the actual food. I had a pulled pork sandwich and a side of macaroni and cheese.

First of all, it was PERFECTLY proportioned, which is one thing I love about France in general - That I can go to a BBQ restaurant and leave satisfied but not stuffed to the brim, as I would in the US.

Second - I will not lie, the sandwich was a bit dry - but very flavorful! - and the mac & cheese a little bland - but very creamy! - and in short, I would totally go back. Honestly, this place is like a breath of fresh air amidst the foie gras, and the woman is butchering her own BRISKET for god's sake. She is committed to the right things.

I also heard her mention that she does a lot of catering for the American Embassy - and she will cater private parties as well. I haven't even trid their super meat platter yet...

BLUES BAR-B-Q
1 Rue Sedaine 75011 Paris
M: Bastille or Chemin Vert
+33 (0)1 48 06 79 53
Tues-Sat lunch and dinner, open till 10PM
Sunday lunch and dinner, open till 8PM
Closed Monday

From their sign:

Le Vrai Barbecue Americain - 
Nos Viandes Sont Fumées avec le Bois Hickory
 or:
Real American Barbecue
Our meats are Hickory Smoked